Abstract

Well-known is the critique against the Judaeo-Christian religious tradition (famously formulated by Lynn White in 1967 in an article in Science), that the historical roots of our present-day ecological crisis can be found in this tradition's emphasis on the 'ruling' position of humankind in the world. It is therefore to be expected given this theological background that the economies of modern capitalist civilisations would plunder the natural riches of the world. The earth is there for the benefit of humankind, to use and to exploit.